When we moved into our new house, this garden area was already here, and it fell right in the middle of where the dog yard would be. There didn’t seem to be much growing in it but I finally identified some oregano on one end of it. I didn’t plan to do a lot of gardening our first year here, but I wanted to do something simple in this area to make it prettier. I didn’t want to have to fence it off from the dogs. Since I enjoy cooking with fresh herbs, and even use some in Sheba’s homemade meal toppers as part of her cancer diet, I thought an herb garden would be simple and make sense.
I enjoy gardening, but to be honest, I’m not always that good at it! I also try to garden organically which makes it even more challenging. Herbs seem to be fairly easy. All you need is some sunshine and well drained soil. Herbs do prefer full sunshine unless you live in a very hot climate where some shade might be in order (ours just happens to be shaded in the early morning). You can add fertilizer or compost as well, but I would need to consider the dog safety of that so I didn’t even bother with it this year. I put some seeds in some pots to get some started, and then I also bought a few plants at our local garden center. I had planted basil seeds, but they were growing too slowly for me and I wanted some for Sheba’s meals. I found a plant at our grocery store, it was from a local garden center, and it was only $3.00! That plant is actually doing quite well now.
Eventually I moved everything I had in pots into the herb garden. I read that even though herbs will grow in pots, they prefer to get in the ground where they can really spread their roots. I thought of Samantha’s catnip plant which was looking kind of sad. I decided to put it in the garden for a while to hopefully bring it back to life. Then I can move it back into a bigger pot for the winter on her windowsill. I was happy to find out it is safe for the dogs.
That is the important thing here, and I was happy to find many herbs I use are safe for dogs and some like basil and parsley are actually quite good for them. I planted my favorites that I know are safe, but you would want to be sure you checked on any herb your dog can have access too. I didn’t find a list specific to herbs for dog safety, but again the ASPCA’s list of poisonous plants covers herbs as well.
I enjoyed putting this little garden together, and I used some small fences to protect things from getting trampled by the dogs. That way they can run through there chasing the ball, or sniff around in there if they want. Even if you don’t use herbs for cooking, many have pretty flowers, and they also smell so good! If you cook with them though, some like basil you want to snip the flowers off to keep it growing better. Some day I hope to learn to dry them as well so I can use my own throughout the winter (I’ve frozen some in the past which works with some varieties too).
Some herbs like oregano will come back year after year. Some oreganos and mints can be very “invasive” though, meaning they’ll take over your garden if you don’t keep them under control. I had that happen with oregano at our old house – it really took over my flower garden and it was hard to get out. I don’t believe all varieties will do that though. Next year I hope to try milk thistle, which is supposed to be good for dogs.
True confession time. I left this yellow flower in the herb garden, thinking it was just a weed and that the flowers were pretty. When going through these photos and seeing Luke with the flower, I decided to try to be sure of what it was. I found out that it was an herb, probably a perennial that the previous owner had planted, St. John’s Wort. Well, imagine my dismay when I found it on the toxic to dogs plant list! I immediately removed it. The worst thing here was not only that it could be toxic if ingested, but it could cause skin rashes as well! Thank goodness nothing like that happened with Luke.
I’ll be writing more about different types of toxicity in a future post. The point here is that some plants can have oils or thorns that can be harmful. That’s another good reason to be careful about what plants your dogs can get into. It’s also important to just be sure that your dogs don’t eat plants in the yard; even if you might think everything you have is safe. I watch Luke and Sheba to be sure the only thing they chomp on is grass; I think it’s just a good practice. At least I know that this herb garden is now safe for them when I can’t keep my eye on them every minute.
Do you have an herb garden for yourself or your dogs?
Watch for future posts in our series, and here are links to previous ones:
Part 1 – Introduction
Part 2 – Quiz – Do you know what these plants are and if they are safe for your dogs? Even though the prize giveaway is now closed, you can still have fun with this quiz and then find the answers in Part 3.
Part 3 – Quiz answers
This made me smile, as my bipeds said after moving that they weren’t going to do much to the garden till next spring. It wasn’t long before an area was cleared for a herb garden! I enjoy sniffing herbs.
I’m SO glad I put the herbs in, and I bet your bipeds are as well. I am really missing having a vegetable garden this year (I do have a few tomato plants in pots) and can’t wait to get that going next year!
It’s good to point out that not all plants that are safe for humans are safe for dogs. I think this is something that is easy to forget. My brother has 3 dogs and a garden. The dogs like to browse through the garden for a snack when they are outside..like their own person grocery store. š
Luke loves veggies, and he was really hoping I’d plant some of those in there this year! I almost put some tomato plants there, but it turns out the leaves are not safe for dogs. I plan to do a post on veggies too; and Luke will have a garden next year – carrots and green beans are his favorites. š
Your herb garden looks great. I would have to wall mine off. My boy dogs would have a grand time with it, I am sure….lol.
For some reason, Luke leaves that garden alone, I don’t know why, because they’ve all killed the thyme along the patio!
I don’t have an herb garden YET but it is on my list of things to do in the future!! My mom grows so many herbs and plants in her garden, it’s amazing. She dries many of them, sage being among them. There’s nothing more soothing than a cup of sage tea when you have a sore throat. Works wonders. Just cover a few dried leaves with boiling water, let sit for 10-15 minutes, and then drink while it’s hot.
Well, if you can get fresh ones from your Mom, or even just dried. I’d just take advantage of that for as long as you can. š
That’s a little hard unfortunately as my mom lives in Germany š But I used to take advantage of it for a very long time, before moving to the States.
I’ve talked about gardening for many years – but that’s all I’ve ever done “talk” One day I may shock myself and surprise others. But no promises LOL Yours looks really nice.
Thank you, Cathy. Gardening is a lot of hard work and definitely not to be taken lightly. LOL
A few years ago a neighbors doggy ate snail bait and died. This is a very important message
Lily & Edward
That is so awful! We have to remember to be so careful about everything we use that can be within our dogs’ reach. I knew a dog who ate rat poison once; luckily she survived though.
Gosh that looks like a lot work where do you get the time and energy? Mom is not a gardener at all just doesn’t get it but you have fun now! Love Dolly
Gardening is very time consuming, and a lot of work, and it is hard to find time for it. But I don’t have any other hobbies outside the home so I guess that gives me more time? Usually getting things started in the spring is the hardest. My Mom and Dad always had a garden when I was a teenager, so I just picked up my love of it from them. There’s nothing like your own fresh veggies and herbs!
I’m all “black thumbs” when it comes to gardening. And working in the garden at any time of the day – during the summer at least – is unbearable.
Glad you got rid of that St. John’s Wort before anyone could eat it!
Me too – I can’t believe I let that one almost get by me.
All gardening during the summer has to be done in the morning, that’s for sure! The most work is getting things started in the spring, and then we have to deal with the bugs!
What a great herb garden. The only herb I can grow outside is wild catnip, it grows all over our property and MK hates it, go figure. I have chives in pots on my window sill in my kitchen anything else I try to grow always dies.
I can do OK with an outdoor garden, but anything I try to grow inside the house I usually kill. It’s a miracle Sam’s catnip plant has lasted as long as it has!
The mom has a few pots of herbs and she uses them when she cooks. Of course, she has a big pot of catnip for us!
We have an idea to step an area of our yard, where we recently had a tree cut. It gets really good sun now, the thing is we need to get moving on it. It won’t happen THIS year, but hopefully next.
I do like fresh herbs and veggies, so it makes sense to me, I just hate the work of it. š
I’d also like to find some plants that repel bugs, that I think I could get motivated for.
Glad you discovered the bad plant and were able to get it out before someone ate it.
The need for fresh herbs and veggies is the only thing that keeps me motivated! We plan to put a big veggie garden area in this fall for planting in the spring. All I had for veggies this year was some tomatoes in pots. Luke is missing his own fresh green beans and carrots!
I still plan to do some research on plants that repel bugs. It seems like I read something about both marigolds and lavender. Someone wrote a blog post about it….but that was a couple years ago now I think and I lost track of it.
Our endless battle with slugs means that outdoor basil is a complete waste of time. Yours looks to be flourishing though!
That one basil plant is doing very well, but the ones I had in pots were getting eaten by something. It was up on the deck though so I don’t think slugs could have gotten to it. I hope moving it to the garden will bring it back.
My sister-in-law has a fabulous herb garden and is a member of a herb society! She has such a green thumb. I am grow ivy. LOL!
We don’t have killing frosts so most of my herbs grow all year. I have an oregano and mint jungle to deal with. Only basil is civilized.
I didn’t have much trouble with mint….I actually think the oregano choked it out. LOL
Fresh herbs are great, but no herb garden. Mom goes to the spice store for her spices and herbs, they are better than the ones you get in a regular grocery store.
The fresh herbs at the grocery store are awful, and the prices on the dried ones are ridiculous! You are so lucky to have a spice store.